I have to correct you.. the SD’s are guilty going back several seasons.
Poche made a good fist of it last year with the same restrictions and Maresca ball is a large reason for the abysmal performances since December.
If Maresca had been supported correctly perhaps his style of play would have won things, but I predicted last year that this might / would happen and Maresca would end up the whipping boy the next manager to have done so.
I would have had more respect for Maresca if he had stood up and said what needed to be said I.e. I’ve asked for these players to fill the gaps where we need to improve the team but the SD’s bought 20 more youth players and told me to make do with what I got!
That my dear Score is why a clear out of this shambles needs to happen sooner rather than later.
I hope Chelsea book flexible tickets for the staff and team for cwc because they may not be there long
The problem is the change will not come higher up and this is their model and they will not change. Maresca is also culpable for many poor decisions and more recently in front of the camera he is hard to like even to the point of blaming the fans.
Honestly the club is a mess no shirt sponsor for ages and then one for short time stinks of desperation from the commercial arm, the SD are definitely responsible for the influx of Inexperienced players and not securing a striker again and again through 2 windows Maresca one season for me is not enough time to judge anyone, we need to beat Man Utd so the fans need to get behind the team no matter what, when that’s happended we’ve seen the results
we have a whole team finding its way, from top to bottom with little practical experience, its not a project its a experiment like no other seen in football.
we are where we are midtable club, no striker!! needing a spine in the team window after window, I dont see top 4 as a right or a win if we get there
I agree with the headline it all comes from the top, waterfall management not a cohesive team approach based on actual knowledge. Ai is just part of the puzzle and XG does not score goals.
Football is unique and emotional that is why we invest so must time and energy
Buy enlarge I agree with you here and thanks for highlighting the last 10 games. It’s something I’ve been raising but it seems to get ignored. Let’s be honest in reality you can make statistics read whatever way you want your argument to go. I have seen many people criticise the form over the second half of the season from January 1.
The reality is we’ve got 28 points and Liverpool apart nobody has got more than six points more than us.
Secondly, everyone is quick to jump on or away form. Yes, no one can deny since January 1 it has been poor, but let’s look at the season as a whole. This table shows us as having the 10th best away record but there’s very little in everyone from 10th up to 3rd.
I’m not trying to paint a picture one way or the other. I’m just trying to make the point that you can make the statistics and the numbers work for whatever picture you want to paint. The detail you provide here in your article is crystal clear.
It also shows that the pendulum can have been moved with very little change. Six points out of six against Ipswich would paint a different picture. The reality however is probably every club could cherry pick the same situation/scenario at their individual club. At the end of the day we don’t play the premier League over six games/10 games/12 games or even half a season. It’s over 38 games and that’s the only table that matters.
I agree with your comments about the Newcastle game and would only say that I commend the way Newcastle attacked us in the first 30 minutes. They had us rocking but we slowly recovered and we control the second half with one man less. The Manchester City game, as you say shows that nothing can be assured at this time of the season. This weekend will again mix the scenario up again. Forest have a tough away game, Newcastle have to go to Arsenal. Should one or both of those results go our way and we beat Manchester United then again it will look different. As I said at the weekend let’s not be a half glass empty group of supporters, let’s be positive for the next two games help the club win six points and then we can all be critical and have our negative comments should we fail to succeed?
Finally like you, I really would hope that we can take the toxicity out of the discussions. Some of it is just so negative that it drives everybody else away from that discussion.
I am oddly not stressed at all about the Manchester United game. Not because I am certain we will win. Quite the opposite. This could easily be a banana skin game.
The reason I am not stressed is because they either get the 3 points like they should and move on or it is the final nail in the coffin for these Sporting Directors. I cannot imagine how the owners see this season as anything other than a complete an utter failure by the sporting directors if Chelsea fails to reach the Champions League because of results that included:
- Only 1 point from relegated Ipswich Town
- 2 horribly pathetic losses to a Brighton team who we've constantly raided for coaches and players
- And worst of all, unforgivably not beating a historically bad Manchester United team who almost certainly will be playing their reserves 5 days before a cup final
If the owners can't bring themselves to fire the SDs in this scenario, then things are so so so much worse than even the biggest pessimists can imagine.
BUT, thinking more positively, assuming Chelsea get their business done on Friday, I would actually be confident in them going into a must win game to finish the season vs Forrest.
Agree with your points Jeff - but weirdly the ManU issue goes back further. We were once the club with the best record against ManU, back in the decades when they were good, and since they have declined we have a pretty poor record. And not just under Clearlake.
Those Brighton games really stood out for me too. One shot on target in two matches? Putrid. Sure the SDs are culpable for many things, but Maresca's football was absolutely dire for months.
I've been preaching this - "a fish stinks from the head". Absolutely chaotic and without realistic vision, experience and feeling to swallow their own pride.
However, reality in life hits hard everybody who ignores it. So, I'm expecting more turbulence ahead and more changes (mainly coaches and players) until we lose everything. I've lost trust to all of them. Maresca however, has his own fault for this because he agreed to fall into it.
I completely agree. The SDs cannot be solely responsible in this club. I would like them to either report to a final decision maker (a Director of Football, or similar), or to be demoted to Chief Talent Spotter or whatever nonsense title they want.
I don't think that Maresca has helped himself with the fans though.
Sporting directors for sure to blame for this mess...however Maresca doesn't help him self. He comes across as arrogant without the trophies to back it and don't forget him having a go at the fans....he's not my cup of tea. He's basically a yes man and the worst kind, someone who is grateful they have been over promoted....remember how much he loved Sterling and then a week later said he didn't...how he didn't think we needed Trevoh C and now he's the in the first XI. Or when he said he was told top 4 was a target for next season and then he back tracked..... Which is a smart strategy from Paul and Laurence in a way....Maresca won't question us and what we are doing as he feels like he's won the lottery by being Chelsea manager
This is Behdad/clearlakes ridiculous strategy. The SDs are the ones executing the strategy poorly.
The SDs/Behdad identified Maresca as the man to do this job, even if we wanted to place full blame on Maresca let’s not forget who hired him.
The heat has to be on after a dreadful summer 2024 window and then a winter 2025 window in which they basically just tried to undo all their terrible work from summer 2024.
Apologies The Score
I have to correct you.. the SD’s are guilty going back several seasons.
Poche made a good fist of it last year with the same restrictions and Maresca ball is a large reason for the abysmal performances since December.
If Maresca had been supported correctly perhaps his style of play would have won things, but I predicted last year that this might / would happen and Maresca would end up the whipping boy the next manager to have done so.
I would have had more respect for Maresca if he had stood up and said what needed to be said I.e. I’ve asked for these players to fill the gaps where we need to improve the team but the SD’s bought 20 more youth players and told me to make do with what I got!
That my dear Score is why a clear out of this shambles needs to happen sooner rather than later.
I hope Chelsea book flexible tickets for the staff and team for cwc because they may not be there long
The problem is the change will not come higher up and this is their model and they will not change. Maresca is also culpable for many poor decisions and more recently in front of the camera he is hard to like even to the point of blaming the fans.
As usual a well balanced article.... A voice of reason
On another note this team is nowhere ready to play CL football and get out of the first group stage which is in fact a European super league of sorts.
We certainly dont have 22 world class players as we did when chelsea were full pomp under Roman.
Honestly the club is a mess no shirt sponsor for ages and then one for short time stinks of desperation from the commercial arm, the SD are definitely responsible for the influx of Inexperienced players and not securing a striker again and again through 2 windows Maresca one season for me is not enough time to judge anyone, we need to beat Man Utd so the fans need to get behind the team no matter what, when that’s happended we’ve seen the results
we have a whole team finding its way, from top to bottom with little practical experience, its not a project its a experiment like no other seen in football.
we are where we are midtable club, no striker!! needing a spine in the team window after window, I dont see top 4 as a right or a win if we get there
I agree with the headline it all comes from the top, waterfall management not a cohesive team approach based on actual knowledge. Ai is just part of the puzzle and XG does not score goals.
Football is unique and emotional that is why we invest so must time and energy
Buy enlarge I agree with you here and thanks for highlighting the last 10 games. It’s something I’ve been raising but it seems to get ignored. Let’s be honest in reality you can make statistics read whatever way you want your argument to go. I have seen many people criticise the form over the second half of the season from January 1.
The reality is we’ve got 28 points and Liverpool apart nobody has got more than six points more than us.
https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/premier-league/jahrestabelle/wettbewerb/GB1
Secondly, everyone is quick to jump on or away form. Yes, no one can deny since January 1 it has been poor, but let’s look at the season as a whole. This table shows us as having the 10th best away record but there’s very little in everyone from 10th up to 3rd.
https://www.soccerstats.com/homeaway.asp?league=england
I’m not trying to paint a picture one way or the other. I’m just trying to make the point that you can make the statistics and the numbers work for whatever picture you want to paint. The detail you provide here in your article is crystal clear.
It also shows that the pendulum can have been moved with very little change. Six points out of six against Ipswich would paint a different picture. The reality however is probably every club could cherry pick the same situation/scenario at their individual club. At the end of the day we don’t play the premier League over six games/10 games/12 games or even half a season. It’s over 38 games and that’s the only table that matters.
I agree with your comments about the Newcastle game and would only say that I commend the way Newcastle attacked us in the first 30 minutes. They had us rocking but we slowly recovered and we control the second half with one man less. The Manchester City game, as you say shows that nothing can be assured at this time of the season. This weekend will again mix the scenario up again. Forest have a tough away game, Newcastle have to go to Arsenal. Should one or both of those results go our way and we beat Manchester United then again it will look different. As I said at the weekend let’s not be a half glass empty group of supporters, let’s be positive for the next two games help the club win six points and then we can all be critical and have our negative comments should we fail to succeed?
Finally like you, I really would hope that we can take the toxicity out of the discussions. Some of it is just so negative that it drives everybody else away from that discussion.
I am oddly not stressed at all about the Manchester United game. Not because I am certain we will win. Quite the opposite. This could easily be a banana skin game.
The reason I am not stressed is because they either get the 3 points like they should and move on or it is the final nail in the coffin for these Sporting Directors. I cannot imagine how the owners see this season as anything other than a complete an utter failure by the sporting directors if Chelsea fails to reach the Champions League because of results that included:
- Only 1 point from relegated Ipswich Town
- 2 horribly pathetic losses to a Brighton team who we've constantly raided for coaches and players
- And worst of all, unforgivably not beating a historically bad Manchester United team who almost certainly will be playing their reserves 5 days before a cup final
If the owners can't bring themselves to fire the SDs in this scenario, then things are so so so much worse than even the biggest pessimists can imagine.
BUT, thinking more positively, assuming Chelsea get their business done on Friday, I would actually be confident in them going into a must win game to finish the season vs Forrest.
Such a weird season.
Agree with your points Jeff - but weirdly the ManU issue goes back further. We were once the club with the best record against ManU, back in the decades when they were good, and since they have declined we have a pretty poor record. And not just under Clearlake.
Those Brighton games really stood out for me too. One shot on target in two matches? Putrid. Sure the SDs are culpable for many things, but Maresca's football was absolutely dire for months.
I've been preaching this - "a fish stinks from the head". Absolutely chaotic and without realistic vision, experience and feeling to swallow their own pride.
However, reality in life hits hard everybody who ignores it. So, I'm expecting more turbulence ahead and more changes (mainly coaches and players) until we lose everything. I've lost trust to all of them. Maresca however, has his own fault for this because he agreed to fall into it.
Classic a fish stinks from the head". Absolutely correct
Yeah they're to blame for a lot of stuff but he's the guy in the dugout.
Winstewart and Stanley didn't get 1 point/6 vs Ipswich, they haven't got 1 away win since December, they didn't go long ball against Newcastle.
I completely agree. The SDs cannot be solely responsible in this club. I would like them to either report to a final decision maker (a Director of Football, or similar), or to be demoted to Chief Talent Spotter or whatever nonsense title they want.
I don't think that Maresca has helped himself with the fans though.
Sporting directors for sure to blame for this mess...however Maresca doesn't help him self. He comes across as arrogant without the trophies to back it and don't forget him having a go at the fans....he's not my cup of tea. He's basically a yes man and the worst kind, someone who is grateful they have been over promoted....remember how much he loved Sterling and then a week later said he didn't...how he didn't think we needed Trevoh C and now he's the in the first XI. Or when he said he was told top 4 was a target for next season and then he back tracked..... Which is a smart strategy from Paul and Laurence in a way....Maresca won't question us and what we are doing as he feels like he's won the lottery by being Chelsea manager
I couldn’t agree more Score.
This is Behdad/clearlakes ridiculous strategy. The SDs are the ones executing the strategy poorly.
The SDs/Behdad identified Maresca as the man to do this job, even if we wanted to place full blame on Maresca let’s not forget who hired him.
The heat has to be on after a dreadful summer 2024 window and then a winter 2025 window in which they basically just tried to undo all their terrible work from summer 2024.